SHILLONG, March 6: Congress leader Mukul Sangma has warned that there is a threat to the very existence of Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) and the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution if corrective steps are not taken on the present state of affairs in the ADCs.
He said it is pathetic that the people, tasked to deal with the challenges associated with the administration of the ADCs, are not doing their job.
“We need to question those responsible for the mess. Look at primary education which is the subject of ADCs. A resolution was adopted and a legal process invoked to transfer primary education to the state due to the failure of the ADCs,” he said.
He continued: “If a district council is not able to respond to the call of duty and fulfill its purpose as enshrined in the Constitution, some people will find an excuse to threaten the very existence of the ADCs and the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. This is a warning sign and one should not take it lightly. We must protect them and ensure that the Sixth Schedule remains.”
The threat to the ADCs looms large due to the corrupt mindset of those running them, Sangma said. This must be corrected and this correction must come only from the electorates, he said.
He insisted that the right to franchise and the power to elect the representatives must be executed with utmost sense of responsibility. He wondered if the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) is active and functional.
The Congress leader said he had mentioned in his letter to Governor, Satya Pal Malik that the people responsible for mismanagement in the GHADC will get encouraged if not taken to task and it will make a mockery of the law.
“If this trend continues, more and more people will join politics with the intention to loot and enrich themselves. This trend needs to be reversed in the larger interest of our people,” he added.
